Science & Mathematics

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

A skillful blending of art and science, the Porter Garden Telescope is a 6-inch f/4 Newtonian reflector cast in solid statuary bronze that can also serve as a sundial and as an elegant piece of domestic garden furniture.
Description
A skillful blending of art and science, the Porter Garden Telescope is a 6-inch f/4 Newtonian reflector cast in solid statuary bronze that can also serve as a sundial and as an elegant piece of domestic garden furniture. The slender blade of overlapping leaves holds the primary mirror, the prism, and the eyepiece in alignment. A bowl of lotus leaves embraces the mirror and a pair of cylindrical flowers forms the slow motion controls. The base is embellished with the names of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton. When not in use, the optical elements could be removed and taken indoors.
Russell Porter, an Arctic explorer and Boston architect, designed the Garden Telescope. John A. Brashear provided the eyepieces and prisms. Wilbur Perry, an early member of Stellafane, figured the mirrors.
This example is marked "The Porter Garden Telescope built and sold by Jones & Lamson Machine Co. Springfield Vermont. -U-S-A- / No. 49 / US Patent 1468973 Sept. 25, 1923." Christian La Roche acquired it in the early 1930s and gave it to the Smithsonian in 1992.
The Garden Telescope has a split-ring equatorial mount. Porter developed this design in 1918 and later proposed it for the large telescope on Mt. Palomar. John Pierce, a member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, suggested "that the 200-inch mount as constructed is simply a glorified 'Garden Telescope,' with a lattice tube instead of the bar which supports the prism and ocular in the garden telescope."
We suspect that fewer than 100 Garden Telescopes were ever made. This commercial failure can be partially attributed to cost. With a price tag ranging from $400 to $500, it was beyond the means of most potential buyers.
Ref: John Tracy Spaight, "The Porter Garden Telescope," Rittenhouse 6 (1992): 97-102.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1923-09-25
maker
Jones & Lamson Machine Co.
Brashear, John A.
ID Number
1992.0242.01
catalog number
1992.0242.01
accession number
1992.0242
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism.
Description (Brief)
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
Many early electrostatic machines generated a charge by friction. In the later 19th century several designs were introduced based on induction. Electrostatic induction occurs when one charged body (such as a glass disc) causes another body (another disc) that is close but not touching to become charged. The first glass disc is said to influence the second disc so these generators came to be called influence machines.
Heinrich Wommelsdorf (1877-1945) of Germany designed this influence machine in the early 1910s. Wommelsdorf was trying to improve the older designs of August Toepler and Wilhelm Holtz. First he used discs made of plastic rather than glass or shellac. He placed metallic inductors called sectors between the two discs making a single rotor assembly. Instead of a fixed disc, the casings that cover the corners of the rotor carry the charge to the Leyden jars. As Wommelsdorf explained in US Patent 1071196, “the charges on the carriers are conducted away from the peripheral edge of the disc...instead of from the axis or laterally..., as has hitherto been usual.” He believed that change increased the efficiency of the machine by capturing more of the charge. He established the Berliner Elektros Gesellschaft in 1913 to produce this design that he called a Kondensatormaschine (condenser machine).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
ID Number
EM.330309
catalog number
330309
accession number
287887
This is a brass instrument covered, in large part, with dark leather. The exposed parts have a black japan finish. The objective lenses are 9 mm diameter. The eye end of the left prism housing is marked “Zeiss Stereo Field Glass / PAT.
Description
This is a brass instrument covered, in large part, with dark leather. The exposed parts have a black japan finish. The objective lenses are 9 mm diameter. The eye end of the left prism housing is marked “Zeiss Stereo Field Glass / PAT. JUNE 22, 97 / Power +8.” That on the right is marked “Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. / ROCHESTER, N.Y.” The top of the center post is marked “7530.” The eyepieces are separately adjustable, as is the inter-ocular distance and the focus overall.
Bausch & Lomb was licensed by Carl Zeiss, Jena, to produce prism binoculars under Ernst Abbe’s several patents, using Schott glass made in Jena. The central focus, as found in this example, is a feature that Zeiss added after 1900.
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1897-06-22
production dates
ca 1900-1920
date made
1900-1920
licensor
Zeiss, Carl
maker
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company
ID Number
1982.0001.02
accession number
1982.0001
catalog number
1982.0001.02
A cathetometer is an upright ruler equipped with a telescope that is designed to measure the vertical difference between two points with great accuracy.
Description
A cathetometer is an upright ruler equipped with a telescope that is designed to measure the vertical difference between two points with great accuracy. The form was introduced in Paris around 1815 and the name around 1847.
This example was made by William Gaertner, a German immigrant who, in 1896, established a shop in Chicago for manufacturing astronomical and other instruments of precision. A quarter century later Gaertner would be honored for “having emancipated American educational and scientific institutions from their dependence on foreign made scientific instruments.”
This is one of Gaertner’s heaviest and most accurate cathetometers. It was also one of the most expensive, costing $400 when new. The signature—WM GAERTNER & CO. CHICAGO, USA—indicates that it was made between 1896 when the firm began in business under that name, and 1924 when it became the Gaertner Scientific Corp.
The silvered scale is graduated to 0.05 inches and read by vernier to 0.001 inches; it is also graduated in millimeters and read by vernier to tenths.
Ref: D. J. Warner, “Cathetometers and Precision Measurement: The History of an Upright Ruler,” Rittenhouse 7 (1993): 65–75.
Wm. Gaertner & Co., Instruments of Precision (Chicago, 1919), pp. 28–29.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1896 - 1923
1896 - 1924
maker
Wm. Gaertner & Co.
ID Number
PH.336364
catalog number
336364
accession number
1978.0230
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism.
Description (Brief)
People from ancient times knew that rubbing certain materials and then touching something caused a spark. Studying what is called electrostatics laid the groundwork for understanding electricity and magnetism. Natural philosophers, scientists, and instrument makers created many ingenious devices to generate electrostatic charges starting in the 1600s. These machines varied in size and technique but all involved rotary motion to generate a charge, and a means of transferring the charge to a storage device for use.
Many early electrostatic machines generated a charge by friction. In the later 19th century several designs were introduced based on induction. Electrostatic induction occurs when one charged body (such as a glass disc) causes another body (another disc) that is close but not touching to become charged. The first glass disc is said to influence the second disc so these generators came to be called influence machines.
James Wimshurst (1832-1903) designed a new type of influence machine in the early 1880s. Since they did not need to be pre-charged or primed in order to work, they represented a vast improvement on previous machines. Within a few years Wimshurst became a generic term used to describe these devices and manufacturers began mass producing them at all price levels. This machine was used for many years to teach electrical science at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C.
The machine features two plates made from hard rubber rather than glass that rotate in opposite directions. Each has 24 metallic wedges called sectors that interact to generate the high-voltage static charge, and each is swept by two brushes on a neutralizing bar. Two Leyden jars sit in cups on the decorated base along with the spark discharge rods. No circuit is under the base but the base itself is metal and so the jars may be connected in that manner. The machine reportedly produced sparks 2 or 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) long, depending upon humidity in the classroom. The unit is heavily worn from extensive use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
ID Number
EM.323732
catalog number
323732
accession number
252354
This is one of a series of adding machines and adding machine models prepared by the Patent Department of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It is a steel mechanism for an adding machine with a column of 9 octagonal white plastic keys and two numeral wheels.
Description
This is one of a series of adding machines and adding machine models prepared by the Patent Department of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It is a steel mechanism for an adding machine with a column of 9 octagonal white plastic keys and two numeral wheels. Keys for odd digits are concave, and for even digits, flat. Complementary digits are indicated on the keys. Mechanism for “9” key only.
A red tag attached to the object reads: PATENT (/) MODEL (/) No. 534A. A metal tag on the side reads: MODEL ROOM (/) 534A.
Objects 1982.0794.04 through 1982.0794.10 were received together as Burroughs Patent model 42. This object is described in accession file as an invention of Walter J. Pasinski of Burroughs. Pasinski and other Burroughs inventors filed several patents for key-driven adding machines between 1911 and 1929.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.06
accession number
1982.0794
catalog number
1982.0794.06
This model of a section of a Burroughs Class 9 adding machine has a steel mechanism in a steel framework painted brown. It has one column of black plastic number keys, and one column of red and white plastic function keys.
Description
This model of a section of a Burroughs Class 9 adding machine has a steel mechanism in a steel framework painted brown. It has one column of black plastic number keys, and one column of red and white plastic function keys. There is part of a carriage, part of a printing mechanism, and a place for one spool of a ribbon. The mechanism is on a metal support that fits into a wooden stand. There is no cover for the sides.
The Burroughs Class 9 was introduced in 1926. This is model #241 Patent Division of Burroughs Corporation, although there is no departmental tag. A metal tag attached to the object reads: DONATED TO (/) The Smithsonian Institution (/) by (/) Burroughs Corporation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1926
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.51
catalog number
1982.0794.51
accession number
1982.0794
This wooden bar-lock case is covered with black leather and lined with dark blue velvet. The top is marked: Präcision (/) D. P. (/) E. O. Richter & Co. Between the letters D and P is the Richter trademark of a backwards E, O, and R, superimposed on each other.
Description
This wooden bar-lock case is covered with black leather and lined with dark blue velvet. The top is marked: Präcision (/) D. P. (/) E. O. Richter & Co. Between the letters D and P is the Richter trademark of a backwards E, O, and R, superimposed on each other. The lower left corner of the top is also marked: [Fre]derik Preisler (/) Kjøbenhavn. Carved in the back of the case is the mark: H. T. FRIIS. The set includes:
1) 6" aluminum, German silver, and steel drawing pen marked: CORN.KNUDSEN. Trademarks of two superimposed dividers are on either side of the mark. The object is cataloged separately as 1985.0909.02.
2) 3-3/16" and 2-11/16" German silver handles. The smaller handle holds four needle points.
3) Two 1-1/2" steel pen points that do not appear to fit any of the compasses in the set.
4) 6" German silver and steel fixed-point dividers. The center hinge is marked: Richter. The Richter trademark is to the right of the mark.
5) 4-1/2" German silver compass with pencil point. The center hinge is marked: Richter. The Richter trademark is to the right of the mark.
6) 2-3/4" and 2-1/2" German silver and steel screwdrivers. The first screwdriver is marked: FRANCE 6. It is cataloged separately as 1985.0909.03. The second screwdriver matches the handles and appears to be original to the set.
7) 6-1/4" German silver drawing compass with removable pencil and pen points and extension bar. The center hinge is marked: Richter. The Richter trademark is to the right of the mark.
8) 4-3/4" German silver drop spring bow pencil marked: D. R. Pat. The Richter trademark is between the letter R and "Pat."
9) 4-1/2" German silver bow dividers. The side of one leg is marked: D. R. P. The Richter trademark is below the mark.
10) Two 5-1/8" and one 4" leads, all marked: SSWS MADE U.S.A. U.S. PAT. 1,832,654 (/) 3H EAGLE TURQUOISE ® ELECTRONIC 3H. (The shortest lead is marked 2H instead of 3H.) These items are cataloged separately as 1985.0909.04.
E. O. Richter & Co. of Chemnitz, Germany, sold mathematical instruments from 1885 but became notable from 1892 when it began making fine drawing instruments. See also 317925.04, 325684, 335301, and 2007.0039.01. In 1926, Richter sold this set as model number 2330 for 61.00 DM. Several of the original instruments in this particular set are missing, while others from various makers have been added to the case.
Frederik Preisler made and distributed scientific instruments in Copenhagen, Denmark, around 1900. The Copenhagen firm founded in 1838 by Cornelius Knudsen made optical, navigational, and surveying instruments, planimeters, and equipment for telegraphy into the 1930s.
German immigrant Heinrich Berolzheimer opened Eagle Pencil Company as a pencil shop in New York City in 1856, with a factory in Yonkers. By 1880 the firm made mechanical pencils as well as pens and erasers. In 1969 the company changed its name to Berol Corporation, and the Empire Pencil Corporation purchased it in 1986. Its Turquoise line of drawing leads was widely sold in the early 20th century.
Harald Trap Friis (1893–1976) owned these instruments. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark in 1916. In 1919 he moved to the United States to study at Columbia University. He worked for Bell Labs from 1920 to 1958 and was notable for discoveries in the mathematics of radio transmissions, the development of radio astronomy, and improvements in microwave radar and communication equipment. Friis likely purchased his original set from the Preisler firm before he left Denmark. His widow donated his papers and this set of instruments to the Library of Congress in 1977, which transferred the set to the Smithsonian in 1982.
References: Catalogue of E. O. Richter & Co., 5th ed. (Chemnitz, Germany, [1926]), 78; Hemming Andersen, Historic Scientific Instruments in Denmark (Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1995), 8–10, 37, 47, 55, 68, 79–82, 276; "Eagle Divider and Compass," School Journal 56 (1898): 389.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
E. O. Richter & Co.
ID Number
1985.0909.01
accession number
1985.0909
catalog number
1985.0909.01
The manual, full-keyboard non-printing modified stepped drum calculating machine has a metal frame painted black and a steel keyboard painted green. Eight columns of uniformly shaped black and white color-coded keys serve for data entry.
Description
The manual, full-keyboard non-printing modified stepped drum calculating machine has a metal frame painted black and a steel keyboard painted green. Eight columns of uniformly shaped black and white color-coded keys serve for data entry. At the bottom of each column is a red clearance key. Metal rods between the rows of keys are decimal markers. Three key stems are in a column to the right of the number keys. One clears the entire keyboard. The other two are set to determine whether or not the keyboard clears after each calculation (at least one of these keys looks like a replacement). A metal lever is right of the keyboard and a metal knob to the left. The operating crank on the right side rotates clockwise for addition and counterclockwise for subtraction.
The carriage behind the keyboard has a row of 16 black numeral dials for recording results, and a row of eight white numeral dials which serve as a revolution register. The revolution register, which has no carry, has black digits for addition and red ones for subtraction. Two thin metal rods between the windows for these registers carry decimal markers. The carriage shift crank is at the front of the machine. A knob for lifting the carriage is right of the result register, and a crank for zeroing dials on the carriage is on its right side. There are four rubber feet. A bell rings when the result passes through zero (as in over-division).
A mark on the front of the machine reads: MONROE. A mark on the back reads: MONROE (/) Calculating Machine Company (/) New York, U.S.A. The serial number, recorded on the bottom edge of the left side of the carriage, is 91928
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, The Business Machines and Equipment Digest, 1928, pp. 9-29 to 9-33.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927
maker
Monroe Calculating Machine Company
ID Number
1984.0682.05
catalog number
1984.0682.05
maker number
91928
accession number
1984.0682
This is one of a series of adding machines and adding machine models prepared by the Patent Department of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It is a model of a key lock for adding machines invented by Frederick Dame.
Description
This is one of a series of adding machines and adding machine models prepared by the Patent Department of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It is a model of a key lock for adding machines invented by Frederick Dame. It includes a steel mechanism with one white plastic key, two key stems without keys, and two black-plastic rimmed numeral wheels. A complete set of nine white plastic keys with key stems is attached to the model. All the keys are octagonal. Keys for odd digits are concave, and flat for even digits. Complementary digits are indicated on the keys.
A metal tag attached to the object reads: B.A.M.CO. MODEL (/) NO. 581.
Objects 1982.0794.04 through 1982.0794.10 were received together as Burroughs Patent model 42.
Reference:
Frederick Dame, “Key Mechanism for Calculating Machines,” U.S. Patent 1,791,265, filed August 12, 1929, granted February 3, 1931.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1929
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.07
accession number
1982.0794
catalog number
1982.0794.07
This ten-key printing manual adding machine has a steel frame painted black and ten white plastic number keys in two rows. Complementary red digits on the number keys are for subtraction. Right of the number keys are non-add and multiply keys.
Description
This ten-key printing manual adding machine has a steel frame painted black and ten white plastic number keys in two rows. Complementary red digits on the number keys are for subtraction. Right of the number keys are non-add and multiply keys. To the left are a tabulating key (used for automatic carriage shifting in double column work), a subtract key,and a back space key. Above the keyboard is a place indicator for up to 13 places. Left of this is a correction bar to clear entries. Total, subtotal, and release keys are mounted above and to the right. One lever that may be set on “HAND” or “MOTOR”, another for split or normal addition.
A silver-colored metal window is above the keyboard, with printing mechanism and non-print key behind. The red and black ribbon moves in front of the 9” carriage. This carriage has a bell on the left side. The paper tape holder and paper tape are behind the carriage. The metal handle is on the right. It has a wooden knob once covered with plastic. Metal clips placed in the back of the carriage set the tab stops. One clip has detached from the carriage. Printing is either single or double-spaced.
The machine is marked on the front: DALTON (/) CINCINNATI, OHIO. (/) U.S.A. It is marked on the carriage: Dalton (/) ADDING, (/) LISTING AND (/) CALCULATING MACHINE. The serial number, on a tag on the right side under the handle, is: 2-102212.
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 40, 536.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921
maker
Dalton Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1986.0977.01
maker number
2-102212
accession number
1986.0977
catalog number
1986.0977.01
These fifteen wheels are for use with harmonic analyzer 323826 (#60 - record number 1987.0705.01). They are marked as follows:1. n = 2 - 202. n = 3 - 6- 303. n = 4 - 8 - 404. n = 5 - 10- 505. n = 7 - 356. n = 9 - 457. n = 118. n = 129. n = 1310. n = 1411. n = 1512. n = 1613.
Description
These fifteen wheels are for use with harmonic analyzer 323826 (#60 - record number 1987.0705.01). They are marked as follows:
1. n = 2 - 20
2. n = 3 - 6- 30
3. n = 4 - 8 - 40
4. n = 5 - 10- 50
5. n = 7 - 35
6. n = 9 - 45
7. n = 11
8. n = 12
9. n = 13
10. n = 14
11. n = 15
12. n = 16
13. n = 17
14. n = 18
15. n = 19
The wheels are in a wooden case. A paper sticker attached to the front of the case reads: Pinons For (/) Harmonic Analyser (/) #60.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1928
maker
Coradi, Gottlieb
ID Number
1987.0705.02
catalog number
323827
accession number
1987.0705
This model includes one column of nine round brown plastic numeral keys. To the right of this is a second column of five function keys, four tan and one dark brown. Also present are a container for one spool of a ribbon, part of a carriage, and part of a paper tape holder.
Description
This model includes one column of nine round brown plastic numeral keys. To the right of this is a second column of five function keys, four tan and one dark brown. Also present are a container for one spool of a ribbon, part of a carriage, and part of a paper tape holder. It has no handle. The case is of brown metal and clear plexiglass. The section can be displayed on a steel support that holds it on a wooden stand.
A metal tag reads: DONATED TO (/) The Smithsonian Institution (/) by (/) Burroughs Corporation.
This is model #265 from the collection of the Patent Division of Burroughs Corporation. The Burroughs Class 8 adding machine was introduced in 1925.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.65
catalog number
1982.0794.65
accession number
1982.0794
In 1911 the Burroughs Adding Machine Company introduced a key-driven adding machine much like the Comptometer made by Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company. The Burroughs calculator, as the new machine was called, performed ordinary decimal arithmetic.
Description
In 1911 the Burroughs Adding Machine Company introduced a key-driven adding machine much like the Comptometer made by Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company. The Burroughs calculator, as the new machine was called, performed ordinary decimal arithmetic. Burroughs inventors soon designed special versions of the calculator to solve other problems. This is the model or sample for one of them, designed to measure elapsed days and months.
This machine has a black metal cover and five columns of plastic keys. The leftmost column has black keys numbered from 1 to 9. The second column has nine red keys on which months are indicated. The adjacent middle column has two additional months noted (there is no “JAN” key). There also are three numeral keys in this column. The two rightmost columns have numeral keys running from 1 to 9. Complementary numbers and months are indicated. Six windows at the front of the machine display results. The a metal and wooden handle is on the right side. The cloth cover is painted black.
A red paper tag attached to the machine reads: PATENT DEPT. (/) #231. The machine is marked on the front: Burroughs. A white tag attached to the machine is marked in part: Elapsed day & month. A metal tag attached to the object reads: DONATED TO (/) The Smithsonian Institution (/) by (/) Burroughs Corporation.
Objects 1982.0794.47, 1982.0794.48,1987.0794.49, and 1982.0794.89 are all from Burroughs Patent Department Model 231.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.48
catalog number
1982.0794.48
accession number
1982.0794
A stellation of a regular polyhedron is a polyhedron with faces formed by extending the sides of the faces of the regular polyhedron. Extending the triangular sides of an icosahedron can produce a variety of complex polyhedra, including this one.
Description
A stellation of a regular polyhedron is a polyhedron with faces formed by extending the sides of the faces of the regular polyhedron. Extending the triangular sides of an icosahedron can produce a variety of complex polyhedra, including this one. The surface has sixty short three-sided spikes. These meet in groups of three—each meeting point might be considered as the vertex of a circumscribing regular dodecahedron.
The model is cut and folded from paper. It is Wheeler’s model 382, and number I21 in his series of icosahedra. Wenninger calls the surface the fifteenth stellation of the icosahedron.
References:
Magnus J. Wenninger, Polyhedron Models, Cambridge: The University Press, 1971, p. 62.
A. H. Wheeler, Catalog of Models, A. H. Wheeler Papers, Mathematics Collections, National Museum of American History.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927-05-12
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.197
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.197
This cut and folded paper model has eight equilateral triangles for sides. The vertices and sides are lettered and various figures are plotted in pencil.A mark on the model reads: Sept-5-1926.Currently not on view
Description
This cut and folded paper model has eight equilateral triangles for sides. The vertices and sides are lettered and various figures are plotted in pencil.
A mark on the model reads: Sept-5-1926.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926 09 05
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.685
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.685
This cut and folded tan paper model represents the union of two star pyramids with pentagrams as bases. The bases face opposite directions and the vertices of the pyramids extend atop the pentagrams.
Description
This cut and folded tan paper model represents the union of two star pyramids with pentagrams as bases. The bases face opposite directions and the vertices of the pyramids extend atop the pentagrams. Faces include two pentagrams with star-shaped hols, twenty trapezoids, and twenty triangles. A faint mark reads: No 289 (/) DT3. Another faint mark reads: June-30-1921 (/) July-2-1931 (/) Third species (/) No. 289 (/) DT3 Pentagonal (/) Trapezoidal (/) Dodecahedron
Compare models MA.304723.593 and MA.305723.594.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921 06 30
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.594
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.594
This small lever-set non-printing manually operated adding machine has a black metal case with a lid that opens to reveal nine curved levers. These levers are moved forward to set a number. The nine red plastic keys across the top of the machine are for subtraction.
Description
This small lever-set non-printing manually operated adding machine has a black metal case with a lid that opens to reveal nine curved levers. These levers are moved forward to set a number. The nine red plastic keys across the top of the machine are for subtraction. The metal handle may be used to carry the machine when the lid is closed. The machine has four rubber feet. It is marked on the front: STAR ADDING MACHINE (/) MANUFACTURED BY (/) TODD PROTECTOGRAPH CO. (/) ROCHESTER, N.Y., U.S.A. (/) PATENTED NOV. 22 1921. OTHER PATENTS PENDING. It is marked on the bottom with serial number: 21243. This example is from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.
According to Typewriter Topics, the lid was added to the Star in 1924. It served both to keep out dust and to allow the machine to be locked. That year, the device sold for $44. The Star had sold previously as the AMCO, and was purchased by the Todd Company and renamed in 1922. It was redesigned and put on the market as the Todd Visible in April 1926.
Compare MA.326517.
References:
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, pp. 326-328.
Typewriter Topics, vol. 58, October (?), 1924, p. 77.
Business Machines and Equipment Digest, 1928, sec. 3-1A, p. 4.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
maker
Todd Protectograph Company
ID Number
MA.323595
accession number
250163
catalog number
323595
This instrument consists of a wooden cylinder covered with paper scales, wooden handles at the ends of the cylinder, and a metal sleeve lined with felt. The sleeve, which is painted maroon, holds the cylinder.
Description
This instrument consists of a wooden cylinder covered with paper scales, wooden handles at the ends of the cylinder, and a metal sleeve lined with felt. The sleeve, which is painted maroon, holds the cylinder. Running the length of the sleeve are a slot 1.5 cm wide and a paper scale.
The instrument is marked on the paper covering the cylinder: “WEBB’S STADIA SLIDE RULE”, (/) DESIGNED BY WALTER LORING WEBB, C. E. (/) MANUFACTURED BY KEUFFEL & ESSER CO., N.Y. It also is marked there: DIRECTIONS. SLIDE THE CYLINDER UNTIL ONE END OF THE CYLINDER IS SET AT THE DISTANCE MARK ON THE SCALE AND SO THAT THE GIVEN ANGLE OF ELEVATION ALSO COMES TO SOME PART OF THE SCALE. THE REQUIRED QUANTITY IS 1/10 (1/100 or 1/1000, AS SHOWN BY THE MARK ON CYLINDER) OF THE SCALE READING AT THAT ANGLE MARK.
The stadia slide rule was used in topographical surveying to determine the elevation and geographical position of points and objects. Initially, a chain and compass or transit had been used to determine geographical position, with a level employed to obtain relative elevations. Greater efficiency in these measurements was then found by using a plane-table.
In about 1864, the U.S. Lake Survey adopted a third system, first used in Italy about 1820. A stadia rod was placed at the point of interest and sighted through the telescope of a transit. The distance to this point was found by observing the portion of the graduated rod shown between certain cross-hairs of the telescope. To find the elevation of the point, one examined the vertical angle on the vertical circle of the transit when the telescope was aimed at a point on the stadia rod that was the same height off the ground as the telescope. A stadia slide rule was then used for data reduction.
Keuffel & Esser of New York introduced a 20-inch linear stadia slide rule in 1895. It sold under various model numbers (1749, 4101, N-4101) until 1952. In 1897, the firm introduced a 50-inch linear stadia slide rule designed by Branch H. Colby of St. Louis. Colby's stadia slide rule (model number 1749-3, later 4125) sold until 1903. Textbook authors such as John Butler Johnson endorsed the rule, but it was awkward to carry in the field.
Walter Loring Webb (1863–1941), a civil engineer who graduated from Cornell University and taught there and at the University of Pennsylvania, proposed a rule that had parallel scales arranged on a cylinder, reducing the length of the instrument to about 16 inches. K&E sold Webb's stadia slide rule for $5.00 from 1903 to 1923.
One end of the sleeve is painted: 1803. This may be an inventory number from the University of Missouri's Department of Civil Engineering, which donated the instrument in 1972. The university began teaching civil engineering in 1859, and its School of Engineering was renamed the College of Engineering in 1877.
See also 1983.0472.01. For circular stadia slide rules, see MA.336425, 1987.0221.01, and 2002.0282.01.
References: John Butler Johnson, The Theory and Practice of Surveying, 16th ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908), 237ff; Walter Loring Webb, Railroad Construction: Theory and Practice, 7th ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1922), 22–23; Wayne E. Feely, "K & E Slide Rules," The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 49, no. 5 (1996): 50–52; Catalogue and Price List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 31st ed. (New York, 1903), 308; Mark C. Meade, "A History of the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri – Columbia," Archives of the University of Missouri, http://muarchives.missouri.edu/c-rg9-eng.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903-1923
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
ID Number
MA.333636
accession number
300659
catalog number
333636
Franz Trinks led development of the Brunsviga calculating machine from the 1890s, steadily patenting improvements in Odhner’s original design.
Description
Franz Trinks led development of the Brunsviga calculating machine from the 1890s, steadily patenting improvements in Odhner’s original design. The Trinks Triplex was one of these.
The pinwheel lever-set non-printing machine has a black metal housing, a steel mechanism, and 20 levers that are used to set numbers. A steel crank with a wooden handle that extends from the right side of the machine is rotated backward (clockwise) for addition and multiplication and forward (counterclockwise) for subtraction and division.
At the front of the machine is a movable carriage with 20 windows that show dials of the result register on the right and 12 windows for the revolution register on the left. This revolution register has no carry. The digits on the revolution register dials are white for additions and red for subtractions. At the back of the machine is a second revolution register with 12 windows. There is a carry in this register.
The revolution register and the result register have sliding decimal markers. Pushing back a button at the front of the machine releases the carriage for shifting. Rotating wing nuts at the ends of the carriage zeros the registers on it. Rotating appropriate wing nuts on the left side of the machine zeros the pinwheels and the second revolution register. A bell on the left end of the carriage rings when the result passes through zero.
The case consists of a wooden base with a handle in the side, and a curved metal cover painted black.
As the name suggests, the Trinks Triplex was three machines in one. It could be used simply to generate results of up to 20 digits. The mechanism also includes a split device for the result register, which allows one to solve two problems simultaneously. Finally, one can figure the sub-result of a problem in one section and accumulate the total result in the second, showing all factors on the machine at the conclusion.
References:
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, p. 70.
E. M. Horsburgh, ed., Handbook of the Napier Tercentenary Celebration of Modern Instruments and Methods of Calculation, Edinburgh: G. Bell & Sons, 1914, pp. 84–91.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921
maker
Grimme, Natalis & Co.
ID Number
MA.324277
accession number
256654
catalog number
324277
maker number
45666
This cut and folded, ball-shaped, tan paper model has the underlying structure of a regular dodecahedron. Each of the pentagonal faces has been replaced by a figure with ten triangular sides. A mark on the model reads: Dual (/) no 19.
Description
This cut and folded, ball-shaped, tan paper model has the underlying structure of a regular dodecahedron. Each of the pentagonal faces has been replaced by a figure with ten triangular sides. A mark on the model reads: Dual (/) no 19. Another mark reads: Sept 3 1926.
This may be the dual of a rhombitruncated Icosidodecahedron, Wheeler's model 19 (see 304723.066).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926-09-02
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.519
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.519
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several circular slide rules were made to resemble pocket watches. Fowler & Co., of Manchester, England, was a particularly notable manufacturer of this type of slide rule.
Description
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several circular slide rules were made to resemble pocket watches. Fowler & Co., of Manchester, England, was a particularly notable manufacturer of this type of slide rule. The company was in business from 1898 to 1988 and made a large variety of calculators, although the labor-intensive nature of its manufacturing process produced expensive instruments that never sold in large numbers.
This example is the "long scale" model, consisting of a metal case with a ring, two knobs, and two rotating paper discs covered with glass. The front has a short logarithmic scale and a long logarithmic scale, laid out in six concentric circles rather than in a spiral. These scales are rotated by the knob on the left. The glass is marked with two hairlines. The interior of the disc reads: FOWLER'S (/) LONG SCALE CALCULATOR (/) PATENT (/) FOWLER & Co MANCHESTER.
The other knob rotates the seven scales on the back of the instrument: multiplication and division, reciprocals, logarithms, square roots, logarithmic sines, logarithmic tangents, and a second scale for logarithmic sines. The interior is marked: FOWLER'S (/) CALCULATOR (/) PATENT (/) FOWLER & Co MANCHESTER. There is one hairline indicator on the glass. The slide rule is with a tarnished square metal case, lined with purple velvet. The outside of the case is engraved: Fowler's (/) CALCULATOR. The inside is stamped: Fowler & Co. (/) CALCULATOR (/) SPECIALISTS (/) Manchester (/) ENGLAND.
William Henry Fowler (1853–1932) and his son, Harold Fowler, took out several British patents for improvements to circular calculators between 1910 and 1924. The first Fowler calculator with two knobs on the rim was patented in 1914. In 1927, Fowler & Co. introduced the Magnum Long Scale Calculator, which extended the scale length to 50 inches. Thus, this example is dated between 1914 and 1927.
Charles Looney (1906–1987), the donor of this slide rule, catalogued engineering drawings and trade literature at the Smithsonian after he retired from the University of Maryland–College Park, where he served as chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. He also donated his library of books and pamphlets to the Museum.
References: Peter M. Hopp, "Pocket-Watch Slide Rules," Journal of the Oughtred Society 8, no. 2 (1999): 45–51; Richard Blankenhorn and Robert De Cesaris, "The Fowler Calculators: A Catalogue Raisonné," Journal of the Oughtred Society 11, no. 2 (2002): 3–11; Museum of History and Science in Manchester, "Fowler & Co.," http://www.mosi.org.uk/media/33870536/fowlerandco.pdf; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914-1927
maker
Fowler & Co.
ID Number
MA.333849
catalog number
333849
accession number
303780
Three planes that meet at the center of a sphere form what is called a trihedral (three-sided) angle. Each plane intersects the sphere in a great circle. Segments of these three circles form a spherical triangle on the sphere.
Description
Three planes that meet at the center of a sphere form what is called a trihedral (three-sided) angle. Each plane intersects the sphere in a great circle. Segments of these three circles form a spherical triangle on the sphere. In this cut and folded tan paper model, Wheeler labels the vertices of this triangle ABC. Consider a point (not named by Wheeler – call it X) inside the bounds of the trihedral angle and drop perpendiculars to the three sides of the trihedral angle through it. Wheeler calls the points of intersection D, E, and F. The trihedral angle centered at X is the supplement of the original trihedral angle.
Reference:
D. A. Low, Practical Geometry and Graphics, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1912, pp. 233-235.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927 05 29
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.195
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.195
Cutting off the vertices of a regular polyhedron creates another polyhedron which may also have faces that are regular polygons.
Description
Cutting off the vertices of a regular polyhedron creates another polyhedron which may also have faces that are regular polygons. If one cuts off the vertices of a regular octahedron, one can produce this truncated octahedron, which has six faces that are squares and eight that are regular hexagons. The solid angles of the figure are equal, and it is called a semi-regular solid. The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes enumerated the eighteen regular and semi-regular solids, and they are known as Archimedean solids in his honor.
This tan paper model of a truncated octahedron has a tag that reads: 9. It also is marked: 9 IV (/) A. Harry Wheeler (/) Nov. 1, 1921 (/) Pat. 1292188. Wheeler assigned it the general number 9 and it was number IV of his Archimedean solids.
Reference:
Magnus J. Wenninger, Polyhedron Models, Cambridge: The University Press, 1971, p. 21.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921 11 01
maker
Wheeler, Albert Harry
ID Number
MA.304723.433
accession number
304723
catalog number
304723.433

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